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“In business, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate,” Chester Karrass, Founder of Seminar group Karrass. At some point, around halfway through the pandemic, experts began to whisper that office space was dead. “No one will be using an office by 2023,” they said. And yet, while it’s true that office space use has declined steeply in some parts of the country, many companies are still…  Read more

“A diligent buyer will want up to five years’ worth of profit and loss statements, bank statements, tax returns, leases, supplier and vendor contracts, and customer data.” (Barbara Findlay Schenck – Author “Selling Your Business for Dummies”)  The reasons why a business owner might decide to sell their business are many – perhaps to pursue a new or more exciting business opportunity, relocation, health reasons or retirement. Selling a business…  Read more

“I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.” (Brad Schneider, American congressman) At some point it’s more likely than not that your small business will require a business loan. A 2021 study done by Fundera (a US financial resource business that sources financing for small businesses) suggested that 56% of all small businesses will need a loan to expand operations,…  Read more

“In a way, fraud in business is no different from infidelity in marriage or plagiarism in scholarly work. Even people committed to high moral standards succumb” (Miroslav Volf, Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture) Fraud (in this context) is the act wherein an employee or trusted partner makes a financial gain through criminal behaviour or deception within an organisation and it is extremely common. Recent studies suggest that…  Read more

“The moment you make a mistake in pricing, you’re eating into your reputation or your profits.” (Katharine Paine, founder and CEO of KDPaine & Partners) It may seem a simple concept but getting your pricing right is an integral part of any business’s true sustainable success and can be a critical part of its failure too. Bad pricing leads to missed deals if you are too expensive, and lost profits…  Read more

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” (Peter Drucker) Metrics are defined as a set of numbers that give information about a particular process or activity. In a business context, a metric is a quantifiable measure used to track, monitor and assess the performance of various business processes. Also known as key performance indicators or KPIs, business metrics allow you to track the growth and performance of a business, so…  Read more

“If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion” (Elon Musk) The move to the gig economy has been in the works for years. Even before the pandemic people were leaving their jobs to “consult independently” from small towns around the big cities. Younger generations with in-demand skills found themselves capable of earning more money, and…  Read more

“During recession greed dies, frugality survives.” (Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words) With yet another return of loadshedding in August, and major banks upgrading their forecasts to reflect an increased possibility of further economic downturns, recession feels inevitable in South Africa. A recession is simply where an economy stops growing and starts retracting. A generally held definition of recession is when the Gross Domestic Product of a country declines for two…  Read more

“The main objective… is to provide compensation for disablement caused by occupational injuries or diseases sustained or contracted by employees, or for death resulting from injuries or diseases…” (Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act) Most employers – and particularly smaller businesses and domestic employers – are not able to provide cost-effective medical or insurance cover for their employees, even though the vast majority would want their employees to be…  Read more

 “Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team.” (Lisa Masiello) Anyone who has started a business has had those meetings. The ones where you trade a dozen emails explaining what you do and how you do it, what your rates are and why you are the best, and now your potential client has asked for a meeting. You drive to the other side of…  Read more